Smart Contracts and the Illusion of Automated Enforcement
20 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2019 Last revised: 6 Feb 2023
Date Written: March 31, 2020
Abstract
This symposium essay explores the barriers to deploying smart contracts in the consumer finance space: the humans themselves, existing consumer protection laws, and the other businesses who have financial contracts with consumers but that cannot deploy smart contracts. These three barriers render perfectly automated enforcement all but impossible. Nevertheless, there may be room for modifiable smart contracts in the consumer financial space although these contracts may be only marginally more efficient than traditional contracts.
Keywords: smart contracts, contracts, consumer protection, creditors rights
JEL Classification: K
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation